Helen Chadwick: Life’s Pleasures

Smith, director of Collection of Exhibits at the Hepworth Wakefield, assembles an uneven celebration of British modern artist Helen Chadwick (1953–1996). Chadwick was interested in the body from the start of her career, beginning with 1977’s In the Kitchen, a performance piece in which she dressed as household appliances to critique stereotypes of female domesticity (the work drew criticism from some 1970s-era feminists who accused her of promoting female objectification). She briefly moved away from centering her body in her art but resumed in the 1980s with installations like Ego Geometria Sum, consisting of 10 plywood geometrical forms on which she overlaid photocopied renderings of herself. Other art was more abstract, incorporating materials as diverse as rotting kitchen scraps and lasers. Later essays unpack in further detail the role of Chadwick’s body in her art; her Greek heritage; and the frequent use of flowers in her work (most notably Piss Flowers, an installation in which she and a partner created casts from the negative space made by urinating in snow, creating phallic and labial forms). Smith takes pains throughout to emphasize the level of craft Chadwick put into her art, as well as its feminist significance, though the failure to flesh out Chadwick as a person or unpack how or why her artistic development came about may leave readers wanting. The result is an imperfect ode to an important feminist artist. Photos. (July)